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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27828691">Just Another Star Wars Story- Part 2</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AStarWarsFan/pseuds/AStarWarsFan'>AStarWarsFan</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Just Another Fanfiction Series [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Jedi Training (Star Wars), Minor Character Death, Rebel Alliance (Star Wars), there is a character death that sits on the border between major and minor character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:43:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,228</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27828691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AStarWarsFan/pseuds/AStarWarsFan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ester Bobin and Mimin Cone, two teenagers on the run after escaping from the Imperial Flight Academy, find themselves wandering the planet. What happens when Ester's force sensitivity becomes more and more obvious? What happens when the two friends come across a man living in a hut who claims to know something about this "Force"?</p><p>(Part 2 of a series but not necessary to read previous work)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Character &amp; Original Character, Original Jedi Master &amp; Original Jedi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Just Another Fanfiction Series [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2034772</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Unlike the previous work in this series, this was mostly written in the last year, it's not finished yet so I will be posting what I already have written every week (Hopefully) in the hopes that I will manage to write the rest of this. I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ester, an eager cadet at the Imperial Flight Academy on the planet of Eemon, quickly made friends with her roommate, Mimin Cone, who revealed very early on that she had family problems (why? Because the author was in 7th grade and didn’t know what she was doing). Together they rise to the top of their classes, Ester taking the lead by far. Ester, while at the Academy, begins to exhibit signs of force sensitivity, and everyone seemed to be none the wiser including Ester herself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>However, that isn’t completely true. The two friends and some random cadet’s names are brought forward to Lord Vader as children to watch for sensitivity. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite her father having told her multiple times not to tell anyone, Ester tells Mimin how her parents met. Her father is a clone without the inhibitor chip and increased aging courtesy of her mother, an ex Republic nurse. The two met when Ester’s father was injured and sent to a medical center. There the two fell in love and decided to defect from the Republic. They got married and had their only daughter Ester.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>One such instance of Ester showing her force sensitivity was during an inspection of all their quarters. Ester, sensing Mimin had something important to hide, ended up unknowingly tapping into the force to encourage the imperial officer to continue on. Ester confronts Mimin about this however, and Mimin reveals that she has been feeding the Rebellion any information about the empire she could get her hands on. Ester is surprised, but accepting. This laid the seeds for Ester’s distrust of the empire. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ester returns home over a break and finds her city nothing like it had been and after seeing a woman being unjustly punished by the Empire, Ester decides that something needs to change and that after graduating, Ester would do everything in her power to make sure that Empire gets reformed. THis optimistic view did not last very long. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After returning to the Academy, Ester briefly bumps into this boy. They have a short moment and Ester continues on to her next class, oblivious to just who that boy was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>See, that boy was one Ezra Bridger. Ezra had gotten visions in increasing frequency of a girl whose name was said in the vision. The girl's name was Ester. After some prodding, He managed to convince the Ghost crew to let him go undercover to try and find her. He managed to make it to the academy but had yet to find the girl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ester realizes that the Empire is more corrupt than she thought and tells Mimin this and they make plans to escape.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra just manages to find Ester, and talk to her away from the Empire’s prying ears, but before he manages to tell her about the Rebellion, they have to scatter and so Ester and Mimin continue on with their plan none the wiser.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>We find our two heroes having escaped the Imperial Academy...</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Sometime Later</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester and Mimin had quite the adventures while on the run for their first time. Yes, it would not be their last. But, sadly, those stories are not for today. Instead, we jump to a couple of months in their future, just after they had stayed in a kind lady’s house; they had run out of the woman’s house in the middle of the night when some stormtrooper came knocking at her door. Before the stormtrooper got there, however, the lady gave Ester and Mimin some very useful things, such as some camping equipment. While the woman was keeping the stormtrooper busy at the front door, Ester and Mimin snuck out of the back door into a forest.<span></span></p><p>“How much longer do you think we will have to be on the run?” Ester asked Mimin. It had been about a week since they left the woman’s house and Ester and Mimin had already eaten most of the food, so they had to ration the rest out.<br/>“Well, until we find a rebel spy, pilot, or base, or some other empire hater, we are on our own. Who knows how long?” The life of being on the run was not treating either of them well.<br/>“How much further until the nearest city?” Ester asked.<br/>“Don’t know, a way’s yet I think,” said Mimin downcast.<br/>Ester sighed and was about to say something else, but she suddenly stopped, causing Mimin to stop. Mimin looked at Ester as if to say, “What are you doing?” and Ester held up her hand telling Mimin to wait.<br/>“Do you hear that?” Ester said.<br/>“Hear what?”<br/>“I don’t know… some sort of… calling? I don’t really know what…” Ester said apprehensively. “Follow me,” Ester said suddenly and took off to the left of where she and Mimin were headed.<br/>“Where? You’re going the wrong way,” Mimin said confused, running after Ester.<br/>Pretty soon they came to a clearing where a stout little cottage sat surrounded by a garden.<br/>“I feel like something is familiar about this place…” Ester said unsurely.<br/>“How? We have never been here,” Mimin said plainly.<br/>“Who are you?” came an angry voice from behind them. The girls whirled around to see a middle-aged man wearing a robe of some sort.<br/>“Do you live here?” Ester asked. Mimin looked at Ester, normally Ester was the polite one.<br/>“What do you think,” the man said gruffly.<br/>“I think you live here,” Ester stated. “Do you hear that?”<br/>“Hear what, specifically,” the man said suspiciously. Meanwhile, Mimin was just watching this exchange back and forth.<br/>“A sort of whining almost. I’m not really sure what exactly,” Ester shrugged.<br/>The man’s eyes widened in shock, almost comically. “Like a calling of sorts?”<br/>Ester’s brow furrowed. How did he know? “Yes, exactly like a calling.”<br/>“Follow me,” the man said as he walked into his house.<br/>Ester looked at Mimin as if to say, “What just happened.” and Mimin looked at Ester as if to say, “What in the universe just happened?” Ester shrugged and went inside, Mimin following suit.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. An Old Tale</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester and Mimin looked around the old man’s cottage. It had a chimney in the center of the far wall when you entered the room. Then, to the right, there was a short bed that looked very old. To the left, there was a kitchen, dining room, and living room combo of sorts. Ester and Mimin looked with awe in their eyes for they had never seen a cottage quite like this one. </p><p>“Take a seat,” the man said gruffly, gesturing to his bed. The two girls did as told. The man then went to take care of a kettle he had on the fire. </p><p>The girls waited for a while until Ester lost her patience, “Um, are you going to tell us why you had us come inside?” The man sighed.</p><p>“Do you really hear a sort of ringing?” the man said apprehensively to Ester.</p><p>“Yes,” Ester answered truthfully.</p><p>The man sighed again. “Well then I think you might be force sensitive,” the man said, barely audible.</p><p>Mimin, who had been feeling left out, decided to speak up, “Like as in like a Jedi, force-sensitive?”</p><p>The man nodded.</p><p>“Wait, how do you know this?” Ester said, even though she could guess the answer.</p><p>The man was silent. It was a grave silence, almost one of guilt. </p><p>“You are a Jedi aren’t you?” Mimin speculated. The girls took the man’s lack of answer as an affirmative.</p><p>“Wow,” Ester said at a loss for words. </p><p>The man stood up suddenly. “Leave now,” he said with some venom. </p><p>“What-” Ester started.</p><p>“Now,” he said shooing them out the door and slamming the door in their face.</p><p>“What you can’t do that!” Ester yelled at the door.</p><p>“Ester,” Mimin said, “Yes he can, let’s just go and set up camp a little way out.”</p><p>Ester let out a huff in exasperation and said, “Fine.” </p><p>Ester and Mimin walked a little way into the forest from the old man’s house until they found a small clearing where they set up their tent with little difficulty because at this point they had done it plenty of times now. While Mimin went to get firewood, Ester went in search of non-poisonous berries and maybe a stream from which to get fresh water and fish. While she was walking, Ester was deep in thought about who the old man was and if she was really force sensitive and what that would mean for her.</p><p>Ester was so deep in thought that she didn’t notice someone following her, noticing her reaching out to the force unknowingly and also tapping slightly into the dark side of the force. Ester, completely unaware of what she was doing, didn’t think anything of it. But she did manage to find food-safe berries and some fish in a freshwater source. By the time she got back, Mimin had set up a fire and was getting out the few cooking utensils they had. Ester shook herself out of her trance and got the fish cooking.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Jedi Training</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester woke up with a scream in the middle of the night; birds flew away from the sudden noise. She had had a nightmare about her parents dying. She was very afraid of it being true; it felt so real. Ester shook her head to clear her thoughts.</p><p>“Ester?” Mimin asked, concerned from hearing Ester scream.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Are you ok?” Mimin said tilting her head in question.</p><p>“I will be, it was just a nightmare. Go to sleep, I will keep watch,” Ester said shakily.</p><p>Mimin did as told but not without staring at Ester funny. Ester shooed Mimin on.</p><p>A few moments after Mimin fell asleep, Ester heard a rustle nearby and stood up quietly, not wanting to wake Mimin, and went to investigate. Ester stalked toward where she heard the sound, not making a noise. Little did she know, though, that she had already passed the person who made the noise. Ester kept on going, with the person following her, until she got a clearing. Ester’s eye’s widened as she knew someone was behind her and turned around.</p><p>“Come out to the moonlight,” she called, knowing the old man would hear. Soon, she saw the man’s shadow emerge from the edge of the clearing and then come into what little moonlight there was. “Why did you come close to our camp? And why did you follow me here?”</p><p>The man stood there for a moment as if unsure of how to proceed. “You have been using the dark side of the force, repeatedly,” the man said like a statement.</p><p>Ester didn’t respond.</p><p>“So… I would like to train you in the ways of the light side of the force,” the man said cooly, even though he was nervous on the inside.</p><p>“Really? I could become a Jedi?” Ester asked with hope and uncertainty.</p><p>“Well, maybe not quite a Jedi, but close,” the man said.</p><p>“Wow, I have heard tales of their adventures. I have also heard lies from the Empire saying that they were enemies of the Old Republic, but I don’t believe that,” Ester said not knowing what else to say.</p><p><span></span>“I am taking that as you accept. Training begins at sunrise.”</p><p>“Ok!” Ester said bewildered.</p><p>“Go get some sleep, you will need it. Don’t worry about danger, I will watch out for you,” said the man as kindly as he could.</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Ester awoke to birds chirping and realized it was sunrise. She panicked for a second, thought it was a dream, decided it was too real, and went to find the old man. She wandered around for a while, not sure where to go, until she found the man sitting on a large rock with a smaller one next to him with his eyes closed. Ester just stood there not wanting to interrupt whatever the man was doing.</p><p>“Come,” the man said without opening his eyes. Ester did as told apprehensively.</p><p>“Sit,” the man said gesturing to the smaller rock next to him. Ester, really shocked, did as told and sat like the man was, crisscross tin nut sauce as she learned as a kid.</p><p>“Now, count to ten and try to clear your mind of all distractions. Focus only on the numbers; don’t be distracted by anything.”</p><p>Ester tried, she really did, but she just seemed to focus on everything and anything but the numbers. </p><p>“You’re not focusing,” the man said.</p><p>“No duh old man, I’m trying!” Ester burst. </p><p>The man looked surprised for a split second then his face hardened. “First of all you will respect me, Master Taurendil, and second of all, do or do not there is no try.”</p><p>“What is that supposed to mean?”</p><p>“You will either succeed or fail at what you are doing there is no in-between,” the master said with ice in his voice. Ester huffed in annoyance and went back to “doing” but failing. This went on for a while until the master said, kinder this time, “What is distracting you, you will not be able to focus if you are so uptight about something.”</p><p>“How is this supposed to help me become a Jedi, I thought it was all about moving stuff with your mind and wielding a lightsaber,” Ester said quite confused. </p><p>“Patience young one, if you cannot focus, if you ever have a lightsaber, you will chop your head off, now FOCUS!” the Master Traurendil bellowed.</p><p>Ester took a deep breath and calmed herself. She counted to ten in her head, “1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6…,” and she was focusing on only those numbers when she heard her name.</p><p>“Ester!” Mimin frantically cried from the forest, efficiently snaping Ester out of focus when she was so close to finally completing the exercise. </p><p>Ester blinked a few times the light seemingly so bright from having her eyes shut so tightly. “I’m here!” she yelled. The master huffed in annoyance, she had been so close.</p><p>Mimin burst into the clearing frantically.</p><p>“Oh, there you are! I was worried, I woke up and you weren’t there! Why are you with <em>him</em>?” Mimin said in one breath very quickly. </p><p>“He is training me!” Ester said excitedly. </p><p>A look of slight disgust came and passed on Mimin’s face quickly. “Ok, but why didn’t you tell me?”</p><p>“I didn’t want to wake you up,” Ester shrugged.</p><p>“Ok, um, I’ll go make breakfast?” Mimin said, quite weirded out by the confrontation.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Underway</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> Ester followed Mimin back to camp and went to find some wild berries to accompany the fish that Mimin was cooking. </p><p>Ester sat down, plopping some berries that she had picked to accompany the fish Mimin had cooked. Mimin did similarly and sat down on a log across from Ester. They sat, in companionable silence for a while until Mimin broke the silence.</p><p>“Why in the universe would you want to train with some random person you just met?” Cautious curiosity dripped from her voice.</p><p>Ester was silent for a moment. “It’s just a… a feeling that I have. That I can trust him and that he is meant to train me. I can’t explain it.”</p><p>Mimin scoffed but didn’t press. </p><p>Ester finished the last of her fish, arose, and returned to where she had found Traundil earlier.<span></span></p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>“Now count to 10, clearing your mind again.” Traundil began, gesturing for Ester to sit once she had entered the clearing. </p><p>“Ok.”</p><p> </p><p>Traundil let out a short breath, seeing that Ester wasn’t getting any deeper into the force. “Just let your thoughts pass, don’t dwell on them.”</p><p>“Right.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not sure I can do this,” Ester stated after trying and failing to sink into meditation.</p><p>“Do you want to be a Jedi or not?” Traundil questioned.</p><p>Ester was silent, her nose scrunching in displeasure.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you even listening to what I’m saying?” Accused Traundil.</p><p>“Of course I am!”</p><p>“Then show me”</p><p> </p><p>“Clear your mind,” Traundil said coldly.</p><p>“I’m trying,” Ester grit out of clenched teeth.</p><p>“Do or do not, there is no try.”</p><p>“Stop saying that!”</p><p> </p><p>“FOCUS!”</p><p>“I CAN’T!”</p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Traundil took a deep breath, calming himself. </p><p>“You know what? Let’s take a break.” Traundil sat down on the grass and gestured for Ester to do the same.</p><p>“Alright…” Ester said skeptically and still frustrated.</p><p>“<em>Why </em>do you want to become a Jedi?” </p><p>This caught Ester off guard, she was not expecting that. Rushing for an answer she said,  “I need to be strong enough to save my parents.”</p><p>“So you want power?”</p><p>“What? No!” Ester exclaimed but then thought it over. “Well… maybe. I want to be able to help my parents. Is that so wrong?”</p><p>“In of itself? No. However, being a Jedi is more than serving one person or waving a lightsaber around. It is about helping others who need it, giving yourself to the greater good.” </p><p>Traundil then let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Some said the Jedi were to follow the ‘will fo the force’ but I think that is ridiculousness. After all, why would it be the will of the FOrce for so many of its followers to die…”</p><p>Ester sat there blinking unsure how to proceed.</p><p>Traundil sighed, realizing how he had spewed his doubts to someone who would never be a part of the Jedi order. Wearily he said, “Just… try focusing on clearing your mind one more time and we’ll be done for the day.”</p><p>Ester swallowed, nodded, and sat down, closing her eyes. </p><p>Counting to ten, she cleared her thoughts letting them float away like bubbles. Slowly, she found herself surrounded by light and darkness. The brightest light being Tarundil. The trees so full of life and light, the ground teeming, the rock she was sitting next to didn’t shine but the moss around it did. The darkness of prey dying as its predator found food. Together it was beautiful. Ester felt all around admiring the simple things like a bird emerging from its egg, grass swaying in the wind, and a bug landing on a flower. Ester then felt something she could only describe as… prodding. Realizing that it came from the bright light, no star, that was her master, she opened her eyes.</p><p>“Well done, you connected with the force. Training begins again tomorrow at dawn.”</p><p>Ester nodded, numb that she had actually done it, and returned to camp. Walking through the sparse underbrush, Ester realized that the sun was significantly lower in the sky than it had been when she had started.</p><p>“Huh,” she said, the forest eating her sound, and continued walking.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Foreword</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> “Now sink into meditation, like you did yesterday, and reach out for my presence.”</p>
<p>Ester reached out and found a sense of being pulled deeper. </p>
<p>It was light. It was darkness. It was everything ever. It was the past, present, and future. It was forever. It was hope.  It was sadness like something should have been there but wasn’t. </p>
<p>Sadness lurked, condensed, next to her. She wondered why Traundil was so sad when she was <em>yanked </em>up.<span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Opening her eyes, Ester looked at Traundil with a question on her face. Traundil sighed. </p>
<p>“Before… Before. The force was alight with the thousands of Jedi protecting the galaxy. But now, there are only a few bright stars in the galaxy, quickly corrupted by the <em>inquisitors</em>.” Traundil spat it like a curse. Ester wanted to know what this inquisitor was but didn’t think she should press. “Well, that’s enough for today.” </p>
<p>The “for me” was left unsaid.</p>
<p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p>
<p>“Feel the force surrounding the rock. Now solidify it. Good, now raise that solid up,” Traundil said, instructing Ester.</p>
<p>“What?” Ester questioned, losing concentration.</p>
<p>“Lift the rock”</p>
<p>“How? That it is way too big for me to lift!”</p>
<p>Traundil considered it for a second. “As a Jedi, your perception of reality can dictate reality. You need to believe that you can lift the rock to lift it.”</p>
<p>Ester concentrated and managed to wobble the rock. “I can’t”</p>
<p>“You will.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What am I thinking about doing,” Traundil prodded, letting a clear thought outside his shields.</p>
<p>Ester closed her eyes then said, “Running North.”</p>
<p>“Close. It’s progress, but I was thinking of walking North.” </p>
<p>Ester puffed in frustration.</p>
<p>“If you can do it subconsciously then why not consciously?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mimin sighed and watched Ester leave their clearing with breakfast in hand. It was yet another day of her making breakfast all by herself while Ester was off training. And not even a thank you was ever returned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am going to put this rock, leaf, and bug underneath a cup, and mix them around while you are turned around. You, using the force, are going to tell me where each one is.” Traundil gestured to the six objects sitting on the log. Ester turned around and Traundil mixed up the cups.</p>
<p>“You can turn around now.”</p>
<p>Ester expanded her senses and pointed as she said, “Bug, leaf, and stone.”</p>
<p>Traundil, indifferent, lifted the cups. “Stone, bug, leaf.”</p>
<p>Ester let out a groan of frustration.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mimin sat, staring into the fire. There was nothing for her to do while Ester was training. She had already cleaned everything up from lunch, found some more leaves to sleep on, and caught some fish for supper. She missed her friend.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What am I looking at?” Traundil asked to Ester’s turned back.</p>
<p>“Leaf?”</p>
<p>“Don’t guess use the force.”</p>
<p>Ester’s shoulders slumped and she whipped around, seeing that it was actually a frog. “How is this going to help my parents?”</p>
<p>“You must have patience.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Well, I might as well physically train, there is no use getting lazy while we are stopped.</em>
</p>
<p>Mimin set out, a new goal in mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m not just not sure I’m cut out for this,” Ester said, exhausted from the great psychological training.</p>
<p>“I don’t have to train you.”</p>
<p>“I just don’t understand how this is going to help me save my parents.”</p>
<p>“You must first be rooted in the light side of the force before you pick up a lightsaber lest you chop an arm off,” Traundil said with a lilt that suggested he was quoting someone.</p>
<p>“That didn’t answer my question.”</p>
<p>“Trust. You need to trust that these things will help you in the long run.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mimin placed her hands on her hips, pleased with the small gym she had managed to make with her free time. Which, let’s be honest, she had plenty of.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ester closed her eyes and reached out into the force. She solidified the force around the rock and lifted. She opened her eyes to see the rock floating. She lost concentration and the rock floated down to the ground. Despite this, she turned to Traundil, joy blossoming in her heart, and said: “I did it!”</p>
<p>Traundil smiled at her excitement. “That you did young one.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Exasperation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mimin groaned in frustration. She hardly saw Ester besides meals anymore; Ester was always up before her and asleep after. What even was the point of all the training if they never got around to saving Ester’s parents.</p><p> </p><p>“Now we are going to work on pushing and pulling th-,” Traundil started.</p><p>“There’s more,” Ester groaned.</p><p>“Yes- now don’t interrupt. I will lift this rock and keep it up in the air, and you will push it away from you then pull it back.”</p><p>Ester’s face adopted a tired “really?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not that hard; you have already lifted a rock. All it is is creating a similar barrier and pushing it or pulling it. Now close your eyes. You <em>will </em>do this.”</p><p>Ester closed her eyes after the rock was suspended in the air and imagined a wall on the one side of the rock and moving it forward.</p><p>“Well done, now pull.”</p><p>Ester did the same but in reverse, then opened her eyes.</p><p>“Did I really do it?” she asked.</p><p>Traundil nodded, and Ester let out a triumphant “Yes!”</p><p> </p><p>On her worst days, Mimin wondered if it had been for the best that the old Religion of the Jedi had died. At her best, she was irritated that she no longer got to see her friend.</p><p> </p><p>“Wait here until I come back,” Traundil instructed. Ester nodded and Traundil left the clearing. Ester sat there and waited. And waited. And waited.</p><p>Looking up at the sun, Ester realized that it had to have been at least 2 hours since he had left. She stepped into the forest calling out, “Master?”</p><p>She got one step out of the clearing before she heard. “You failed.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“This was to test your patience and ability to follow orders young one.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Why. Have. I. Been. Left ALONE!</em>
</p><p>Mimin pondered in between punches; releasing her frustrations into the make-shift punching bag.</p><p> </p><p>“Ergh, why can’t I do it?” Ester erupted, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. </p><p>“You won’t be good at everything, young one.”</p><p>Ester blinked, yes, that was it. Everything had come so easy for her at the academy that she didn’t realize that she had started to expect everything to come easy, but it wouldn’t continue to be that way forever. It would take hard work to become a Jedi; she couldn’t ride on talent alone.</p><p> </p><p>Any interactions between Ester and Mimin became short and uneasy. Mimin wasn’t even sure Ester had noticed for Ester had flung herself so completely into her “Jedi training”. The adventures and long journey seemed distant and forgotten.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Confrontation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Traundil beamed with pride. “Well done, you may be done for the day.”</p><p>Ester blinked in surprise. “Really?” she asked, thinking it to be too good to be true.</p><p>Traundil chuckled, and smiling said, “Yes really, now go do whatever a teenager does in a forest during their free time.”</p><p>Ester pranced back to camp with a smile on her face. She had gotten so far in her training, and she was looking forward to getting to more complicated techniques. While her training had been slow going, she <em>was</em> getting there.<span></span></p><p>Ester walked into the clearing to see Mimin preparing supper. Mimin looked up and saw Ester, surprise flashing across her face, before quickly being replaced with a cold stare.</p><p>“Don’t you have Jedi training?”</p><p>“Traundil let me go early.” Ester paused before saying, “Are you ok?”</p><p>“Why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>Ester backed down, confused. She said, “Here I’ll help,” while reaching for the utensils.</p><p>“No. Why would you start now?” Seeing Ester’s utterly confused expression she continued,  “Just go do something else.”</p><p>Hurt, Ester went to collect some berries. Why was Mimin acting like this? They hadn’t talked much recently, probably because of her training, she supposed. </p><p>Gathering a few more berries, Ester washed them and headed back to camp. When she got there, the fish were already done, so Ester took the plate offered to her and sat down, offering berries in return. They ate in silence as they had so often, but Ester’s mind was whirling.</p><p>What had happened between them? They didn’t talk, reminisce about stories, any of it. What had happened?</p><p> </p><p>After the two had finished their meal, Ester asked, “Are you alright?”</p><p>“Yes,” came the curt reply.</p><p>“Mimin, I think we both know that’s not true.”</p><p>Mimin mumbled, “Why now are you no longer obvious.”</p><p>“What?” Ester breathed, having caught the last remark.</p><p>“You really want to know? Do you really?” Mimin gritted out. Ester nodded with hesitation.</p><p>“Ok this is what’s bothering me: we never talk, we never share jokes all because you’re off with your supposed Jedi training. I have been stuck here with NOTHING to do! We left the academy to save your parents and instead we are sitting here. And as you are off training I am stuck making breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every. Single. Day! I’m sick of it. You don’t even say thank you! And! And I don’t see how this training is helping or accomplishing anything! We were in this together when we left the academy, but now it feels as if you’ve forgotten about me!”</p><p>“Mimin, I-”</p><p>“And you’re just <em>so </em>obvious! You didn’t even realize how lonely I was and how left out. How un<em>bearably</em> bored I am!”</p><p>“Mimin… I’m sorry I-” Ester tried to get in.</p><p>“And I’m sorry I ever left the Academy with you!”</p><p>Ester’s eyes widened in shock and watched as Mimin turned around and stormed off into the woods.</p><p> </p><p>“What have I done?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Sacrifice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester awoke and groaned. She was sore from sleeping against the tree where she was waiting for Mimin to come back to camp. She stretched and set about making breakfast for Mimin and herself. Still no sign of Mimin. Realizing that if she didn’t leave now she would be late for training, Ester begrudgingly left heading to the assigned clearing. </p><p>Traundil was sitting on the larger rock as always and Ester sat down on the smaller rock as had become a custom for their morning meditation. She went about sinking into meditation but found herself unable to. Her mind wandering at every thought.</p><p>“What is bothering you young one?” Traundil said, concerned for it had been a long while since Ester had had trouble focusing for meditation. </p><p>“Mimin and I had a– a… fight I guess. I don’t really know.” Ester said shrugging.</p><p>“Young one, until you resolve this, you will remain unable to focus. GO and fix this, no training today.</p><p>“But–”</p><p>“You cannot let disagreements simmer lest they destroy you.”</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>Ester walked aimlessly through the forest, not really wanting to find Mimin yet. She found an empty clearing and thought why not prove Traundil wrong and meditate. Ester tried and tried, getting more and more frustrated, a darkness pulling at her.</p><p>“Ester, you cannot focus with your emotions in such turmoil! You are touching the Dark Side!” Traundil said, slightly panicked.</p><p>Ester opened her eyes and with a cold voice said, “You never did explain what the dark side of the force was.”</p><p>Traundil sighed and sat across from Ester, taking her hands in his. </p><p>“There is the light side of the force, the side of life, goodness, and selflessness as you know.  However, where ever there is light there is darkness. Death, evil, and selfishness. The Jedi use the light side of the force and the sith dark. The dark side is dangerous because the dark side promises power but only gives suffering. Now go and resolve the problem between you and Mimin before the time comes when it’s too late.”</p><p>Ester, sensing Traundil’s concern, got up and went to find Mimin, following the lesser light that she was. Ester stopped by their camp but found nothing there. She waited for a bit but then went in search. Ester wandered for a while until she came across a clearing and saw… Workout equipment?</p><p>Ester shook off her confusion and started to say Mimin when the words died on her lips after she heard rustling behind her. She turned around to see Traundil looking a little panicked.</p><p>“Oh there you are,” Traundil exclaimed in relief.</p><p>“What’s the matter?” Ester worried her stress feeding off her Master’s strife.</p><p>“Stormtroopers.”</p><p>“What?!” Ester and Mimin exclaimed at the same time.</p><p>“The Empire has caught up to me. I may have revealed my force sensitivity in the village I go to annually for supplies when I had to save a little boy from a falling crate. You have to go now and cover your tracks so you’ll be safe. They’re after me not you.” Traundil pushed them towards camp. </p><p>“Quickly, grab your stuff, don’t worry about trying to cover the fire just grab your stuff.”</p><p>Ester and Mimn, after sharing a desperate look, set about hastily packing up their stuff. Having everything stuffed in their bags, they turned to Traundil looking for guidance. </p><p>“Go. Run!”</p><p>They both turn to go, but after taking a few steps forward Ester tuned back. “Aren’t you coming?”</p><p>Taundil mustered a sad smile. “It is the way of the Jedi to help others. I will be fine, young one. Now go!”</p><p>“Ester come on!” Mimin called.</p><p>Ester took one last look at her master and joined Mimin in running deeper into the forest.</p><p>They ran for a while, footsteps pounding on the foliage, before they heard the familiar sound of blaster fire. Ester felt a light going out in the force and stopped, dread building up in her stomach and a soft “No” escaping her lips.</p><p>Mimin grabbed Ester’s elbow and said, “Come on Ester we have to go!”</p><p>Ester continued to look in the force for the star that was her master and found nothing just the stench of death. The comforting presence of Traundil was gone. </p><p>She muttered another, “No!” still frozen. Mimin grabbed the other girl and dragged her into running as well. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Ester followed, hardly daring to believe that this really had happened.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>.... sorry, not sorry</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Consolations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester was tired. Mimin and she had been running for days now, stopping only for food and sleep. Things had yet to be resolved between the two. Now Ester was making supper while Mimin purified some water, tensing after every single high-pitched noise, whether bird or small critter, thinking it was a TIE fighter that had found them. Unreasonable, though it may be.<span></span></p><p>Content with the berry soup she had made, Ester traded a bowl for some water. They sat there in the darkening forest, silent.</p><p>“Mimin– I’m sorry I neglected you and that you felt lonely, and that I didn’t care about you. And that I simply ignored you and that is unacceptable. We are supposed to be friends, together until the end. And I ignored you, putting an unfair amount of work on your shoulders and I didn’t even say thank you. And–”</p><p>“Ester, I forgive you.”</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>A pause hung in the air.</p><p>“And I’m sorry that I said I wished I had never left the academy with you,” Mimin added, breaking the silence.</p><p>Ester then felt so much lighter, like the weight of a moon had been lifted off her shoulders. Offering her hand to Mimin, Ester asked, “Friends?”</p><p>“Always.”</p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Ester woke up to birds chirping and something sizzling. Looking up, she saw Mimin cooking some fish, the aroma making Ester’s belly rumble.</p><p>"Morning sleepyhead,” Mimin chirped.</p><p>“Morning?” Ester asked, confused for they had not had anything in the way of small talk for a while.</p><p>“Breakfast?” Mimin offered.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>Mimin sent Ester a smile in response and just like that Ester knew that they would be ok, that they would emerge stronger out of this scuffle. Warmth blossoming in her chest, Ester ate her breakfast letting the life all around her wash over her and calm her.</p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>The two friends made their way through the forest until they came upon a town that, thankfully, had a spaceport. Before the two entered the town, however, they decided that they should get a ride to Ester’s hometown (Why didn’t we think of that before? Mimin had asked and Ester just shrugged). They asked around for days but the only people willing to provide passage for two female teenagers without imperial knowledge were either pirates or creeps. Ester was starting to give up hope as she sat at the bar of the local cantina, messing with a cup of water, when someone spoke up next to her.</p><p>“What brings you around these parts?”</p><p>Ester turned to the speaker, seeing that it was an elderly human female that spoke. “Looking for passage,” Ester replied simply.</p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“I need to save my parents,” Ester said, firmly, with a tired stare.</p><p>“Well good luck with that,” the woman said then left.</p><p>
  <em>Well, that was odd.</em>
</p><p>Deciding that she had better meet up with MImin to see if she had had any better luck, Ester left the cantina and headed in the right direction. Once there, Ester asked, “Any luck”</p><p>“On finding paid transport? No.” Mimin paused, drawing in a deep breath. “However, we could sneak on board a ship going to our destination.” Seeing Ester moving to protest, she quickly added, “And I know of a crew headed our way.”</p><p>“Mimin we can’t sneak onto a ship. It’s not honest.”</p><p>“Ester we have been asking for <em>days</em>. I don’t think we’ll ever find passage honestly.”</p><p>“That doesn’t mean we should stop looking and trying.”</p><p>Mimin asked slyly, “Would you rather we steal a ship?”</p><p>“Do you even know how to hotwire a ship?” Ester questioned.</p><p>Mimin smiled and said, far too cheerfully, “Yep!”</p><p>Ester frowned, still unsure.</p><p>“Oh come on, Ester, They won’t even know we’re there if we just sneak on.”</p><p>Ester’s nose scrunched up in displeasure, recognizing that she had been beaten, “Fine, but we are going to leave a couple of credits behind.”</p><p>“Whatever helps you sleep at night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Stowaway</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester and Mimin crouched behind some crates near a freighter with the word “Cardinal” printed on its side in aurebesh.</p><p>“Are you sure about this?” Ester urgently whispered to her comrade.</p><p>“Yes, we’ll run in when they leave for a bit and quick run in, making an area for us to hide in. Get ready. I’ve seen it work in holovid so it’ll work.”</p><p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p><p>“Wait, Mimin–”</p><p>“Now!” <span></span></p><p>Reluctantly Ester followed, running into the ship. They quickly found a pile of crates and made a small area for them to stay while in flight. They scrambled in, squeezing next to each other, and held their breaths when they heard footsteps passing by.</p><p>This is how the two girls found themselves: squished next to each other in a space that would barely fit one of them much less two. Hardly daring to breathe out of fear of being found. </p><p>The ship took off, the two slightly shifting with the crates, soon landing once again. However, the two waited for a while, hearing the crew members leave the ship.</p><p>Thinking they were in the clear, Ester looked around their slight surroundings. “Mimin, if they’re machine sellers then why do they have a bunch of crates of food?”</p><p> “I don’t know–”</p><p>“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a gruff voice said.</p><p>A wookie growled in response and before long, the two girls found themselves faced with blinding light.</p><p>“Crud.”</p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>“Mind telling us what you were doing on this ship?” the nautolan said. “Were you going to steal some parts? Are you a spy from the I'm… from other droid sellers?” The two girls didn’t notice his slip up, too caught up in their fear were they.</p><p>“What! No!” Mimin said, surprised.</p><p>“Then what–”</p><p>“What are two stowaways doing on my ship,” said an old woman.</p><p>
  <em>Wait.</em>
</p><p>“You!” Ester exclaimed, recognizing the woman from the cantina.</p><p>“Me.”</p><p>There was a slight pause until Mimin broke it by saying, “We needed a ride and no one would give it to us.”</p><p>The wookie let out a series of menacing growls laced with excitement.</p><p>“We aren’t going to do anything,” the woman stated, glaring at the wookie.</p><p>The nautolan and wookie both let out similar noises of surprise and dislike.</p><p>“You heard me: We are going to do nothing; we’re already here and we are no police.” The two males in the room grumbled.</p><p>The woman turned to the two teenagers, “Now off you two go and do try not to go about stowing away on other people’s ships, others won’t be as forgiving.” </p><p>Not waiting another moment, the two quickly fled the ship, however on their way out Ester mumbled under her breath out of habit, “Do or do not, there is no try.”</p><p>Now in the marketplace, Mimin remarked, “Well that was close.”</p><p>Ester shot her a look that roughly translated to a sarcastic, “No, really?”</p><p>Mimin shook her head playfully but Ester didn’t notice, walking towards the stall of an old family friend where her world would be rocked forever.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Heart Shattering</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester exited the ship, and immediately an uneasy feeling overtook her gut. She had a strong urge to say that she had a bad feeling about this. A stranger in her own town, she stood, the differences like a sinking stone in her gut. Children weren’t playing loudly in the streets and the usual joyful hubbub of neighbors talking was replaced with hushed whispers. Mimin made a stupid remark and Ester shot her friend a look as was her duty as best friend. Still, the uneasy feeling remained.</p><p>Ester then spotted Jobel, an old family friend of hers, manning his stall. Walking up to him she asked, “What happened here?</p><p>“Imperials.”</p><p>Ester was filled with an old dislike for the government. However, curiosity was eating up her insides and even though it filled her insides with ice she asked the question:</p><p>“What happened to my parents?”</p><p>The man’s already gloomy face fell even more. “I’m sorry. After they were imprisoned, your parents broke out and tried to start a rebellion in this community. No one joined them. It didn’t take much for the Empire to find them and have them…” He shuddered. “They had them publicly tortured and executed as an example of ‘those who mess with the Empire’ just a few weeks ago. I’m really sorry, kid.”</p><p>Ester stumbled back in shock.</p><p>
  <em>Gone? They were gone? How could this be?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Gone. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Gone.</em>
</p><p>Like a resounding gong, the thought echoed around her head.</p><p>
  <em>How could this be?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Gone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Gone.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What now? What if she had gotten there quicker? She could have helped and her parents would still be alive. </em>
</p><p>“Ester I’m sorry, but there was nothing you could have done,” Jobel said, pity dancing in his eyes.</p><p>Ester said nothing and numbly started walking, not paying attention to where her feet were taking her. She stopped then took note of her surroundings.</p><p>Her house.</p><p>Or at least, what once was.</p><p>It was in shambles, ruins even. The roof caved in and warning signs were posted everywhere.</p><p>She collapsed, sobbing great wretched sobs that wracked the whole body.</p><p>So consumed she was in her grief, she didn’t notice that Mimin had followed her, and then, when Ester couldn’t care enough to do something about it, helped Ester to a more secluded spot. She then held her friend together while she fell apart.</p><p class="has-text-align-center">&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Not long after sunset, Ester had calmed down to just hiccups and so Mimin asked, “Do you know a place where we could stay the night?”</p><p>Ester simply raised her arm pointing in the direction of her house.</p><p>Wincing, Mimin said, “Is there anywhere else?” Ester shook her head no. Sighing, a grim determination settled in Mimin’s heart. She asked, “Can you stand up?”</p><p>Ester, instead of replying, did as asked and Mimin guided the two of them to the charred, half-standing ruins of Ester’s old house the grim knowledge that if they were caught they were done for hanging over their heads like an ominous cloud. Mimin managed to find the hatch to the basement that was, thankfully, intact. It took some coaxing, but Mimin managed to get Ester down the stairs. Mimin made the two of them as comfortable as she could with what they had and they both settled down to sleep. throughout the night, Mimin pretended not to hear the muffled sobs of the person next to her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. The Next Right Thing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To say Ester wasn’t taking the news well would be putting it lightly. Then again, one doesn’t get over their parents' death overnight.</p><p>Mimin awoke to Ester kicking, hitting, and otherwise destroying anything she could get her hands on. </p><p>“Ester. Ester. Ester!” Finally having the after-mentioned individual’s attention Mimin continued, “Getting us caught won’t make your parents come back!” While Mimin was concerned for her friend, she knew that alerting the imperials of their location would do no one any good. </p><p>Ester deflated then said in a small voice, “It’s my fault my parents are… are <em>dead</em>.” Ester choked on the last word and collapsed to the ground, energy sapped from her bones.</p><p>“Oh, Ester, It’s not your fault.”</p><p>“But it is, if I hadn’t ever stopped to be trained as a Jedi, I would have been back in time to save them.”</p><p>Mimin found Ester’s gaze. “Hey, what’s to say that you would have made any difference and that you wouldn’t be dead as well?”</p><p>Ester looked away from Mimin and said, “I would have… would have helped to free them from the Empire’s clutches.”</p><p>“With what training? Neither of us has any kind of combat training. And hand to hand at the academy doesn’t count. We haven’t ever held, let alone fired a blaster. Ester, hey, look at me, you needed that training. You would make things float without realizing it often.”</p><p>“You noticed.” It was said so quietly, Mimin could barely hear it.</p><p>“Yes, I did. Back at the academy, I had to grab things that were floating slightly once or twice when you were rather emotional,” Mimin responded with a slight smile, reflecting on how far they had come.</p><p>“Oh.”</p><p>&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>The two spent a few more days in the town, Mimin leaving Ester behind while she went to get food. Eventually, Ester was beginning to move forward and not let her grief dictate her. Feeling Ester was up to the question Mimin asked, “What should we do now?”</p><p>When Ester didn’t immediately answer, Mimin offered, “We could stay here.”</p><p>Ester violently shook her head. “No, not here.”</p><p>Mimin hummed. “Well then, we could look for work as pilots maybe.”</p><p>“That’s not going to happen.”</p><p>“Do you have any other plan?”</p><p>Ester’s silence was an answer in of itself.</p><p>So off the two set, asking if anyone needed a pilot. However, like Ester predicted they were unable to find anyone willing to take on anyone so young, much less two of them. Thus Ester found herself, yet again, sitting in a cantina messing with a glass of water. Someone slid next to her and surprise, surprise, it was the old woman whose ship they had stolen away on. </p><p>Ester sighed then said, “We need to stop meeting like this.”</p><p>“I hardly think that two times warrants such a response.”</p><p>Ester shrugged, not continuing the banter. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>Ester raised her eyebrow in question.</p><p>“Well, it’s just your eyes had such a light in them the last time we met. What happened?” Concern glittered on the old woman’s face. Why? Ester didn’t know.</p><p>“My parents are dead.” It was hardly a whisper.</p><p>“Oh, dear. I’m sorry for your loss.”</p><p>“‘Won’t change the fact that I was too late.”</p><p>There was a short pause before the woman said, “What are you going to do now?”</p><p>“Hopefully my friend and I can be hired as pilots,” Ester shrugged.</p><p>“Have any other useful skills. Your friend and you, I mean.”</p><p>“We are both decent mechanics as well.”</p><p>“Well isn’t that perfect, Our pilot just found another job and we need a new one. Pay would be room, board, as well as food.”</p><p>“How do I know I can trust you?”</p><p>“Do you feel that you can trust me?”</p><p>Ester searched her feelings and they were saying yes. “Yes.”</p><p>The old woman held out her hand to shake, “Cark.”</p><p>“Ester.” Ester shook Cark’s hand, a warm feeling spreading in her chest.</p><p>Ester and Mimin had just settled into their new room and Ester was sitting on her lower bunk when Cark entered, leaning on the door frame.</p><p>“You’re a Jedi aren’t you. Or at least had training from a Jedi.”</p><p>Ester felt like a cup of ice had been poured down her back. “I-I don’t know <em>what </em>you’re talking about.”</p><p>Cark chuckled. “Though some of us don’t have the ability to be a Jedi, doesn’t mean we can’t feel the force and you are strong with it. Also, you shouldn’t go spouting Jedi sayings like that. Not in this day and age.”</p><p>“Your-”</p><p>“A Jedi? No. However, I do know a thing or two about what the Jedi could do from serving in the Clone Wars.”<br/>“You served in the Clone Wars?” Ester asked, awe on her face. Sure both her parents had but meeting someone else was a first. (or, she mused, someone who would admit that they had. Technically, she guessed, Traundil did serve during the Clone Wars, but he had never talked about it.)</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Would you teach me?” Ester tried to keep from looking like she was begging.</p><p>“I can try,” Cark said with a smirk. They both laughed at the joke. “Or maybe, just maybe, I’ll do.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Ester and Mimin quickly assimilated into the crew of the Cardinal. Mimin was the main pilot and Ester was the mechanic helping run the faux business of selling droids. As it turned out the Cardinal’s main job was giving food to the poor. Ester received pseudo-training from Cark which was really her describing something that the Jedi could do and Ester doing her best to recreate it. They didn’t always succeed, the technique either too advanced for Ester or Cark didn’t know enough to adequately describe it. Cark became a mentor for the two girls and they learned quite a lot about staying off the Empire’s radar, which involved a surprising amount of hacking into semi-important imperial buildings… Ester and Mimin tried not to think about it too much; after all, it is harming the Empire. And while Ester had qualms about in any way inconveniencing civilians, she had no problem making the Empir’s life difficult. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now they are stopping on a farming planet to stock up on supplies to give to the needy. Ester was wandering through the marketplace, having finished helping for the day when she heard the force </span>
  <em>
    <span>sing</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Ester looked around trying to find the source and tightening her shields (the one kind of actual training that Cark got and was able to teach to Ester). She went down an empty alley so she could use the force to jump onto a roof to get a better vantage point by which to find where the song was coming from. Looking over the edge, she spotted a group of people that definitely weren’t farmers because they had weapons but something said they weren’t bounty hunters. One in particular seemed… familiar but she couldn’t explain how.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Deciding to follow the man, the boy really, she deftly leaped from rooftop to rooftop, but it didn’t take long for her to lose his trail.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Blast.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why were you following me?” Ester whipped around to see the teenager she had been following behind her. She probed his presence and Ester was delighted to see it shone like a star.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a Jedi!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shhh..” the boy said frantically looking around for someone to be listening in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re on a roof. No one is going to hear us up here as long as we aren’t shouting.,” Ester said flatly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seeming to have come to the same conclusion, he furrowed his brow and asked, “Wait how did you know that… You’re force sensitive!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ester noded, “What are you doing here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We are receiving information for the R- Wait I don’t know you so why would I tell you anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Something tells me we do know each other.” Ester paused pondering where she knew this boy. “Wait, Morgan? From the academy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Morgan’s eyes widened. “You’re the one I’ve been looking for!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” But the boy was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I have to tell Kanan. Come on!” Morgan grabbed her hand and pulled her towards a hanger, jumping over rooftops in the process. He eventually led her to where a modified freighter rested next to… Wait is that the Cardinal?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kanan! Kanan!” Morgan yelled, running into the ship, still dragging Ester behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What Ezra!” A male voicer called out. Ezra, so that’s what his name actually was. Ezra pulled Ester through a cargo hold and into some sort of common room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kanan I-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ester looked around the room in which was a middle-aged, male human standing with his arms crossed, a green-skinned twileck sitting next to him and opposite them…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cark?” Ester interrupted Ezra.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Ghost Crew</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ester looked around the room she had just been pulled into by Ezra. There was a middle-aged man, standing with his arms crossed, a green-skinned twi’lek sitting next to him at what looked like a dajark table. Across was someone Ester recognized.</p><p>“Cark?” Ester asked, not caring that she had just interrupted Ezra.</p><p>“Wait, you know her?” Ezra asked, turning to Ester.</p><p>“Yes, she’s my captain. What is going on?” Ester responded, looking pointedly at Cark. However, she was ignored.</p><p>“Is this the one who you were talking about?” the human male who had to be Kanan by process of elimination, asked Cark.</p><p>“Yes,” Cark said with an emotion Ester couldn’t identify.</p><p>Ezra demanded, “Kanan explain.”</p><p>Kanan sighed. “Cark here is a Rebel operative gaining intel and providing relief efforts.”</p><p>“Oh, that makes so much more sense…” Ester interjected.</p><p>“Anyway, she contacted us about finding a better teacher for a force sensitive, Ester.”</p><p>“Wait, what?” Ester turned to Cark looking for answers. Cark walked over and put her hands on Ester’s shoulders.</p><p>“I can’t teach you. You need an actual Jedi to teach you.”</p><p>“But what if I don’t want another teacher.”</p><p>“Ester, I believe it is your destiny to become a Jedi and I can’t help you with that,” Cark said compassionately.</p><p>“But what about Mimin?”</p><p>The green twi’lek spoke up, “You’ll both join the Ghost crew as well as Phoenix squadron.”</p><p>“Will I see you again,” Ester asked, not turning away from Cark.</p><p>“Maybe. You know how the Empire is.”</p><p>Swallowing a retort that would likely bring her to breaking down in front of strangers, Ester instead asked, “Do I even get a say in this?”</p><p>Kanan and the twi’lek exchanged glances behind Cark’s back. “Of course. However, You and Mimin have tonight to talk it over before we set off again tomorrow,” Cark explained.</p><p class="has-text-align-center">&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>“Mimin, what should we do?”</p><p>“You need to further your Jedi training and you can’t do that here.”</p><p>“I thought you were against Jedi training?”</p><p>“I was against sitting in one place doing nothing. We won’t be doing nothing with the Ghost crew, we’ll still be helping, making a difference.”</p><p>“You think we should go?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p class="has-text-align-center">&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;&gt;&lt;</p><p>Ester and Mimin were in the process of transferring their stuff from the Cardinal to the Ghost when a Lasaat ran up to Kanan and the pilot whose name Ester had found out was Hera. </p><p>“Bucket heads, fast approaching.”</p><p>“Hera immediately went to her com. “All Spectors return to the ghost, we’re leaving.”</p><p>Ester and Mimin turned to Cark, panic in their eyes. Cark opened her arms and they rushed in, hugging the old woman who had become like a grandmother to them. “Goodbye you two, don’t get into trouble, and may the force be with you.” Cark squeezed them tears in her eyes.</p><p>The two girls responded with similar tears in their eyes, “You too.”</p><p>With that, they parted ways, Cark running to the Cardinal and the girls going to the Ghost. As the ramp was closing, Ester looked out, the hustle and bustle of the specters behind her dying to background noise. Ester made eye contact with Cark, worry glittering in her eyes. Cark smiled slightly and nodded. Though Ester knew she would miss Cark and the rest of the Cardinal crew, she knew this was the best decision. Confidence blooming in Ester’s heart she turned, closing another chapter of her life and opening a new one.</p>
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